Saturday, September 20, 2008

Click here for the source of the image I used with this post. We DO have power now, but Demetrius has told me we shouldn't turn on our computers yet until the battery back-ups have time to charge. Thus, I'm posting this from my laptop and don't have full access to all the "bells and whistles" I do on my main computer.

Daughter was invited to sleep over at a friend's house, so Demetrius is dropping her off, and then will head to the store to do some grocery shopping. Thank you again to all of you who generously donated to help us restock after having to throw all that food away.

I do want to mention that there were pleasant aspects to all of this. A few evenings ago, Daughter offered to read to us from one of her favorite books. She's a bit self conscious about reading aloud, and keeps apologizing for little stumbles, but she has gotten more comfortable with practice. In general, this week has allowed us the opportunity to spend some fairly relaxed time together.

The hard part, though, is how far behind we are on so many things. Fall quarter starts next week for me (teaching), and we have a meeting coming up at Son's school that I'm going to need to do a lot of background work for. Demetrius needs to get our other car working again before my classes start mid-week.

So while we're thrilled to finally have power back on, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment of the sheer volume of "stuff" I have looming in front of me. I don't quite know where to start. For today, I decided just to get the things from the ice chest back into the fridge, post this update, and then kick back for a bit. Will start tackling some of the bigger projects tomorrow.

Click for the Columbus Dispatch's latest report on the work to restore power in central Ohio.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Today's trip to the library was a bit frustrating, as I couldn't get my laptop connected to their wireless. At least I got it plugged in and mostly recharged. And Daughter got her internet fix on one of the computers in the teen nook.

Before going home, I did manage to get onto one of the library computers and access the internet long enough to take care of a few thing. One of those things was creating comment threads for Wednesday and Thursday.

Schools are closed again tomorrow, making three days in a row. No clue when they will be open again.

Off to bed now. Thank you all for the positive electricity vibes, and the well-wishing in general.

What I *can't* do at the moment is actually add the link to hepcomments.blogspot.com. But there's a link to that in the left sidebar of the main blog.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Howard Rocks The House In Portland Times Two!by Nurse TeriGovernor Howard Dean breezed through Portland, Oregon last Friday, beginning his stay with a rousing rally at Lewis and Clark College. I got to the rally and placed myself in line well ahead of the starting time of 1:00 pm. Unfortunately by the time the doors opened, several dozen Dean fans were turned away, but I was lucky enough to sit in an aisle seat in the second row. The first row was reserved for dignitaries and the press. All major news networks sent their local affiliate reporters and cameramen. The Oregonian and some smaller papers also had representation. I was quite happy to see all the press, because as we know the Governor gives a great speech and he tells the truth and nails every point he makes with facts.

Howard began his appearance like a Rock Star. I was so lucky, because he came down the row I was sitting grabbing and shaking the students' hands AND as soon as he turned and recognized me, he grinned and gave me a hug. As far as I could tell, I was the only one to get a hug at this event. !

As soon as he finished talking he was whisked away and wired up for interviews. Rather than hanging around, I went to Obama Headquarters where the Governor was scheduled to speak at 5:00 pm.

The audience was filled with 18-22 year old students and they cheered and stood for the Governor, and they listened and approved his every word. The Governor emphasized that this race is especially for their generation.Haven't had enough Howard Dean yet? Here are more photos from Nurse Teri!